Exile. #3Weeks

When Jewish literature speaks of exile, it is not only the Exile of Jews from their homeland that is meant.

An Aramaic phrase “Shechinta B’Galusa” means that the Divine Presence, God as it were, is also in Exile. As the Medrash puts it, when God returns us to our land, He will be returning with us as well.

An accurate sense of this concept can be found in the story of World War II. When the Germans invaded Europe, many of its monarchs and heads of state headed to safer places, either England or Canada. In fact, one future European Queen was born in Canada, which was nice enough (of course) to give the place where she was to be born diplomatic status as an embassy of her home country. That way, she could be said to be born in her homeland.

During the war, this meant that those people on the run were the true lawful rulers of their nations that were currently under the domination of a foreign power. Those countries were populated by their own citizens, but the countries were still exile-countries. This is how one can understand the current State of Israel, with its many advantages, as still being in a state of Golus.